Monday, August 2, 2010

Syrian French toast

Why: who needs a reason?? In this case, though, it happened to be a dear friend's birthday, and we stole her away from her family for brunch.

Mel and I both chose the Syrian-style French toast. In the top photo you can see part of what the other two chose - they were in a savoury mood, and so went with poached eggs, avocado, field mushrooms and Persian fetta. I mean, yes, awesome choice, but... against THIS??

This may win as one of my all-time favourite breakfasts ever. I am unconvinced that there is egg involved in the toast; it's too transparent, and more candied than eggy, I suspect because of the orange blossom syrup. The rhubarb is stewed perfectly, and its tartness cuts through what might otherwise be slightly cloying. The honey labne adds a delicious creamy note, and the pistachios - well, they're pistachios. Most meals are improved by pistachios.

In between gazing into the far distance in rapture over this meal, Mel and I decided that perhaps we need to investigate all of Melbourne's French toast opportunities. This was sparked by the birthday girl's revelation that she is a savoury French toast person, which is... something that needs to be investigated.

It's a bucket list - what you want to do before you die - for food. In this case, food we either want to eat at least once before we die, or food we want to eat as many times as humanly possible before we die.